Tour of Langkawi: Stage 3 (2.HC)
Lumut-Cameron Highlands Feb 5th…150.6 km
The first of two serious climbing stages that should ultimately decide the
General Classification began in the seaside town of Lumut, and finished high in
the Malaysian mountains in Cameron Highlands. The stage opened with 80 km of
flat roads before hitting the first of two linked climbs that would cover over
50km of vertical road.

A fast first hour 52km:
A barrage of attacks launched the fastest opening hour of the tour thus far, as
the field hit speeds of 60 km/hour on the wide open roads. Finally, South Africa
delivered a power play move, putting 4 of their riders in a large break that
included Navigators Insurance’s Grishkin and Walters, and Classification
threats, Walters , David George (S. Africa), Gabriele Missaglia (Selle Italia),
Robin Sharman (Recycling), and Sergey Matveyev (Panaria). Although eliminated
from GC contention on the first day, the strong riding American Saul Raisin
represented Credit Agricole in the lead group.

Ryan Cox last years winner missed the break as the quartet of South Africa
mates went up the road.The most significant team to miss the move was the red
clad Relax lads, and the Spaniards were quick to rally and get the team to the
front of the now lackadaisical bunch. With the gap at around 1’20”, the Rojo
Armada sent all six riders to the helm, and drove a torrid pace in pursuit. The
large group ahead had significant motivation however, and the gap was very slow
to close. The race took on a sense of desperation as the chase was racing
against the clock in an effort to catch the leaders before they hit the start of
the climb at 85 km.

With the gap closing to under 45 seconds, the lower approach to the climb
turned the road up ever so slightly, and the subtle pitch was enough to disrupt
the smooth locomotion of the Spanish team. Without their committed effort, the
gap started to grow once again, but now the lead group was starting to shed some
excess baggage. As the two groups passed the 50km to go banner, riders were
already splattered over several kilometers, and the leaders were rolling a
steady pace, urged on mostly by the South Africans.

With over 5 km of climbing, there were plenty of dramatic attacks and surges
that would shred the main field, as the mountain now separated a very elite
group of mountain goats. Navigators Insurance’s climbing star Cesar Grajales was
one of the more active attackers, along with fellow Columbians Walter Pedraza,
and Jose Serpa of Selle Italia, while defending champ Ryan Cox matched every
move, along with the Iranian duo of Mizbani and Askari.
The leaders continued a steady pace while the chasers continued to whittle away
at the gap…and each other. Ultimately, a hard attack by Grajales and Credit
Agricole’s Francesco Bellotti, caught Cox in bad position, and the two sped away
along with Serpa and Pedraza, Askari, and Bouygues Telecom’s Laurent Lefevre, &
Le Boulanger, with Bellotti’s team-mate Le Boulanger.
The lead group was now down to ten riders including Walters, Raisin, George &
Lill, Giant-Asia’s David McCann, LPR’S Iannetti, Missaglia, Kristian House, and
Gene Bates. Bates and House would fall off and Walters and Iannetti found
themselves in difficulty with about 8 km to go. A series of attacks would leave
Raisin and the two South Africans alone at the front, with McCann and Missaglia
struggling to keep close. The chase was sweeping past the dropped riders as they
tried to close on the leaders.

At 8kms from the finish Saul Raisin, the Credit Agricole rider who
loves the mountains, and has said the tougher they are the more he likes them
attacked in the last km dropping Lill Darren Raisin pulled ahead of George
on the final rise to the line, taking the stage win. George comes home in the
same time to secure the yellow jersey, while Lill finishes 17 seconds back.
McCann, Missaglia, Laurent Lefevre (Bouygues Telecom), Francesco Bellotti and
José Serpa complete the top eight.
Previous race leader Maximiliano Richeze (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) finishes 20
minutes and 33 seconds down in 56th place. He drops to 35th on the G.C.

George takes the leaders jersey with Missaglia in 2nd, and Grajales’ 9th
place finish moves him into 3rd in Classification. Tomorrow brings a bit of a
reprieve as the peloton will hit the low roads for a flat journey south, before
heading back to the hills for the race’s infamous climb of Genting Highlands in
stage 5.

Navigators Insurance Stage 2 Report
Tour of Langkawi: Stage 2 (2.HC)
Tanjung Malim-Sitiawan…Feb 4th…164.7 km
After the surprising shake up in yesterday's stage 1, the Tour de Langkawi got
back to cycling fundamentals in today's stage 2, and the relatively flat, 165 km
stage played out in text book fashion.

A stage that was set for the sprinter's, began with a bit of a lumpy opening,
and over the first 20km, a steady series of attacks kept the pace high, and the
leaders teams on guard. But when it became obvious that the major teams were not
going to expose themselves to a repeat of the previous day, the pace settled,
and an attack from one of the infamous aggressor brothers, Koji Fukushima, was
matched by a Casino Filipino man, and the breakaway was on.
The tremendous heat and humidity that characterizes this race, and region,
prompts early feeding from the car to keep the cyclists well hydrated, so when
the allowable feeding began at 30km, the two leaders were given an opportunity
to stretch their advantage.

Similar to stage one, the gap would soon grow to over 7'30", but unlike
yesterday, this was a controlled and comfortable margin for the peloton. With
about 70 km remaining, riders from South Africa, Sella Italia, and Navigators
Insurance started rolling the pace in the field. Bouygues Telecom soon added
some horsepower, and the gap slowly started to drop.
With 30 km reaming, the South Africans wee doing the largest share of the work,
and the long drag into a moderate headwind was softening the two escapees. The
gap was dropping fast, and a very controlled finish to the chase, had the
leaders back in the fold with just under 10km to go.

Now it was game for the sprinter's team's to take over, and Wiesenhof Akud,
and Great Britain battled at the front until a late push by Panaria gained
control in the final km. A hectic, and twisty finishing stretched was marked for
drama, and a clip of the fencing at 300meters set up a high-speed crash, as race
leader Richeze found himself the last man in front of team-mate Ruben Bongiorno.
The speedy duo made easy work of the finish as Navigators' Oleg Grishkin had to
peel off the winning lead-out when the crash knocked him wide. Bongiorno made it
two for two for Panaria as the peloton anticipates the first climbing stage in
tomorrows' stage 3.Courtesy Navigators Insurance Professional Cycling team